Money for Truck Driving School – Where can I get a grant to go to truck driving school? As you know, these days getting a job is pretty hard, and you need some kind of training or education for almost any type of work field, including truck driving. The problem is that it costs quite a lot, and getting that much money may be a bit hard for some, even though it is a great investment for your career.
That being said, there are actually several options for you to get that truck driving school education for free (or almost free). There are two popular options here, which are the grants and scholarships. Below are some of the possible opportunities where you can land one.
Free Money for Truck Driving School Opportunities
Local and National Associations
Typically each state in United States has a state trucking associations. We highly recommend you to apply as a member in the associations in your state. There are typically some scholarships available for selected members. After you apply to and enter a truck driving school, you may as well try to apply as a member in this association. You may find that there is a scholarship program available for you. It would be for your best interest to apply for the scholarship as soon as you can because there are many people attracted to it.
Meanwhile, the competition is even harder for scholarships and grants from national trucking organizations because you will be competing with students from all over United States. For both cases, we highly recommend you to prepare an essay beforehand and make them good. Some of the notable grants and scholarships from national trucking foundations are the Women in Trucking Foundation Scholarship (up to $2,000 per student), Truckload Carriers Association Scholarship (up to $6,000 per student), etc.
Government Grants
As a student in United States education system, you are required to complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly called as FAFSA. This is an application that determines your eligibility for federal student aid, which is often called as the Federal Pell Grant. If you do qualify for the Pell Grant, then you are considered as someone needing financial assistance for education.
Many people consider the Pell Grant as the door to various funding opportunities, which can be true because many scholarship programs require you to fill out the FAFSA first. Obviously, the scholarships and grants are more likely to be awarded to students with financial problems. Again, the second most important stuff would be submitting as early as possible. The deadlines provided by the grantmakers are pretty long, but it is often that the scholarship and grants are made based on first come, first served basis (although some other is in the form of grant competition). It is also important to write a good essay as your base, so that when the application’s submission starting date you can immediately complete and send the application.
Trucking School
You can also go directly to a specific truck driving school in your area and ask if there’s some way you can get the education for free. They may offer grant or scholarship programs too, and some may offer you a contract, allowing you to have the education for free in exchange for your commitment to work with them for a period of time (but make sure you read the contract carefully!).
So as you can see, getting money for truck driving school is possible, as long as you know where to look.
See Also: Government Grants for CDL Training
References:
- Scholarships and Grants for Truck Driving School
- Truck Driver Training Tuition Assistance From the Federal Government
- Image: crengland.com
